Monday, 14 June 2010

As Fox's "Glee" became a breakout hit, bands lined up for a chance to have their music performed by the William McKinley High kids.

Well, not every artist. Notably, Canadian power-ballad master Bryan Adams and British soft-rockers Coldplay said no.

But writer-producer Ryan Murphy told the Hollywood Reporter that not only has Coldplay changed its collective mind, the band's entire catalog has also been made available to the show.

"At the beginning," Murphy said, "a lot of people didn't know what we were and asked to see pages (in advance), but I refused because I didn't want to set precedent of them having any involvement. My favorite rejection was Bryan Adams. Coldplay and Bryan Adams were really the only rejections. But Coldplay called a week ago and said, 'We're sorry, you can have our catalog.'"

A nod from the "Glee" kids can lead to a lucrative payoff for a song's writers and publishers. Their version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" reached No. 4 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart a year ago, while a Madonna-themed EP hit No. 1. Reuters jun 14